Tutu gets gift from His Holiness the Dalai LamaMonday, 20 April 2009, 9:21 a.m.

In this file photo taken in Brussels, Belgium, on June 1, 2006, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents Archbishop Desmond Tutu with ICT’s Light of Truth award “on behalf of the heroes and heroines who often do not get mentioned”.

Pretoria
– Archbishop Desmond Tutu received a spiritual leadership award – and a
gift from His Holiness the Dalai Lama – at Freedom Park in Pretoria on
Saturday.After Tutu was granted the spiritual leadership award
by an organisation called Humanity’s Team, it was announced that His
Holiness the Dalai Lama had also sent him a gift.A white scarf was then draped around his shoulders by a representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”Leaders
such as Madiba (Nelson Mandela) spent 27 years in prison and humbly
reconcile[d] with the enemy: One would expect them to be bitter.”His
Holiness the Dalai Lama has been in exile for 50 years and one will
expect that by now he should have been corroded by bitterness – and he
is not,” said Tutu when receiving his award.Tutu, together with
former president FW De Klerk, pulled out of a peace conference last
month after the South African government refused His Holiness the Dalai
Lama a visa.The conference was cancelled after they pulled out.On Saturday night, Tutu walked in to receive his award while an electric mix of African opera, pop and rock music was performed.Side-by-side
with him was singer Joseph Clark, while the Gaabo Motho Tenors,
Yollandi Nortjie and traditional dance group Amakhono We Sintu
performed on the stage.Tutu then took off his hat, bowed his head and proceeded to his seat among dignitaries.Stands up for the oppressedThe audience who braved the cold evening weather gave him a standing ovation.Humanity’s
Team award co-ordinator Steve Farrell said Tutu was being awarded for
the spiritual leadership he had shown over the years.”Spiritually he stands up for the oppressed,” said Farrell.Receiving the award, Tutu kept the crowd laughing, telling them that times had changed since the apartheid era.”Today
you can see mixed couple walking side by side, even a razor blade could
not pass between them,” he said demonstrating just how closely the
coupled moved.Freedom Park CEO Wally Serote said the presence of Tutu reminded him of some of the reasons why the Freedom Park was created.Tutu
was the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which
recommended that there was a need for a symbol in South Africa to
remember the past.”The symbol to remember where we come from,” said Serote.The Freedom Park is a memorial site which commemorates a number of international and national struggle leaders.–South African Press Association